1. WTST 20031 Involving Testing Students in Software Projects Patrick J. Schroeder University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

2. WTST 20032 … choice of tester was seen to be a larger factor in the resulting effectiveness of the testing than was choice of test technique. “Experimental Evaluation of Six Test Techniques” - L. Lauterbach, W. Randal A conclusion of the study:

3. WTST 20033 What Skills Does a Tester Need to Succeed? Communications Skills – persuade, influence, educate managers, developers, customers Interpersonal Skills – remain sensitive and constructive in complex, political, stressful situations Creative, Intuitive, Critical Thinking Skills – understanding the possibilities of the product and how it can fail

4. WTST 20034 Approach: Learn by Doing ● CS536 Intro to Software Engineering (SE) – Grad/Undergrad ● CS790 Software Testing and Quality Assurance – Grad, w/CS536 Pre-req. CS536 SE teams paired with CS790 test teams in execution of a software project

5. WTST 20035 Application Shari Pfleeger’s Loan Arranger System  Mortgage-backed security business  Data Repository Architecture  Multi-user system  Complex calculations – accrued interest

6. WTST 20036 SE’s Assignment  Complete the requirements specification (use cases, high-level class diagram)  Design, implement and deliver software on an incremental delivery schedule  Negotiate the scope of the project  Provide software releases, release notes, installation instructions to the testers  Respond in a timely fashion to bug reports

7. WTST 20037 Tester’s Assignment Find a way to help the your SE team deliver a better product, by: NOT demoralizing them Finding important bugs quickly Writing good bug reports Helping them understand the product Understanding their software capabilities Generating a light-weight test plan and test logs

8. WTST 20038 Tester’s Journey “Damaged Goods” First Person on the Airplane

9. WTST 20039 Fallback Plan  Incremental deliveries made of the TA- Prof version of the software  Allowed testers to execute tests even if their SE team was not delivering

10. WTST 200310 Project Execution Much excitement generated! Fewer than expected flame wars in the bug tracker/email  Many software deliveries late or missed  Good, and really bad, software delivered  Some requests by testers to abandon their SE teams Improvement of deliveries as the semester progressed

11. WTST 200311 Bug Reports  Over 250 bug reports generated  Initial bug reports poor  Reviews of bug reports in class caught tester’s attention  SE’s and testers learned to recognize good bug reports

12. WTST 200312 Final Project Evaluation SE teams filled out evaluations of their test teams Test teams filled out evaluations of their SE teams Each software project was tested with the help of the TA

13. WTST 200313 Do you think that working on the LAS project gave you insight into the challenges of software testing? 0 1 2 3 4 5 |-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------| No Yes

14. WTST 200314 Do you think your testing team’s effort contributed to the quality of the final LAS product? 0 1 2 3 4 5 |-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------| No ContributionFull Contribution

15. WTST 200315 Do you think your testing team over tested or under tested the LAS software? 0 1 2 3 4 5 |-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------| Under TestedOver Tested

16. WTST 200316 The number of tests I personally executed was (roughly): ______ Avg36.8 Min5 Max200 Mode20

17. WTST 200317 A different approach to teaching software testing is to use a smaller, controlled, previously completed program. This approach omits interaction with software developers. I would prefer testing an existing program in a controlled environment I prefer working with on a “live” project with software developers, despite the chaos

18. WTST 200318 How did you communicate with the SE team? (Check all that apply) Bug tracker Email Face-to-face meetings (other than requirements review)

19. WTST 200319

20. WTST 200320 Conclusion Great project experience for the SE teams SE students short-changed on testing Good testing experience for the test teams, in the context of a chaotic project Good exposure to a wide variety of challenges that testers face Problem: not enough time Problem: evaluating projects costly Problem: application too complex

21. WTST 200321 Thank you! Pat Schroeder University of Wisconsin Milwaukee pats@uwm.edu